A Confusing Conversation...

This Easter at the church where I serve, we came to the conclusion of a sermon series entitled Unexplainable. During this series, we have been spending our time together  looking at seven unexplainable events from the life of Jesus that are recorded for us in an account of Jesus life in the Bible called the gospel of John.

And as John gives us a front row seat to these events from history that seemed to be unexplainable, our hope and our prayer is that we would be able to see how these unexplainable events from history that occurred through Jesus reveal for us several timeless truths about Jesus that have the potential to powerfully impact how we view Jesus.

This week, I would like for us to look at the seventh and final event from history that seems to be unexplainable. And as John gives us a front row seat to this event from history, we will discover another timeless truth about Jesus that have the potential to powerfully impact how we view Jesus. So let’s look at this event from history together, beginning in John 11:1:

Now a certain man was sick, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. It was the Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment, and wiped His feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick. So the sisters sent word to Him, saying, "Lord, behold, he whom You love is sick." But when Jesus heard this, He said, "This sickness is not to end in death, but for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified by it." Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus.

John brings us into this unexplainable event from the history of Jesus life by providing for us the context in which this unexplainable event would take place. At this point in His life, Jesus and His disciples had just left Jerusalem after a confrontation with the self righteous religious leaders of the day, who had attempted to kill Jesus.

After leaving Jerusalem and traveling across the Jordan River, Jesus and the disciples received word that a dear and close friend named Lazarus was sick. Upon hearing of the sickness of his friend, Jesus explained to His disciples that this sickness would not end in death, but for the glory of God. In essence, Jesus was stating that God was going to receive glory as a result of Lazarus illness. John also tells us that Jesus loved Lazarus and his sisters.

Now imagine yourself in this event from history as one of the disciples. Place yourself in their shoes. As you have traveled with Jesus during the past three years, you have seen Jesus do the unexplainable. And every time Jesus does the unexplainable, God has received glory. And now comes word that Lazarus, who Jesus loves deeply, is suffering from a illness so serious that they have sent messengers to inform you. You then hear Jesus say that their good friend Lazarus sickness would bring glory to God.

You’re a disciple. How would you respond? I mean, Jesus statement sounds great doesn’t it? You would want God to get glory, wouldn’t you? And, as a disciple, you have seen Jesus do the unexplainable to bring glory to God. So, as a disciple, would you not expect Jesus to do the unexplainable here? Would you not expect Jesus to say to the messenger something like “Go, Lazarus lives”, which is what He had said to the Jewish royal official, who was a total stranger, in the unexplainable event from a few weeks ago in John 5. I mean you would expect Jesus to do or say something like that for someone that He loved, wouldn’t you? We see what Jesus did next in verse 6:

So when He heard that he was sick, He then stayed two days longer in the place where He was.

Woo; wait a minute; I thought Jesus loved Lazarus. But if Jesus loved Lazarus and had received a message from Mary and Martha to come heal Lazarus, then why is He waiting? Maybe you find yourself in a place in your life where you feel like you are waiting for God to enter into a difficult circumstance and bring help and healing, but it seems like Jesus is delaying. Maybe you find yourself waiting on Jesus.  Now, if that isn’t confusing enough, look what happens next:

 Then after this He said to the disciples, "Let us go to Judea again." The disciples said to Him, "Rabbi, the Jews were just now seeking to stone You, and are You going there again?"

Now imagine yourself as one of Jesus disciples. You have just fled Jerusalem after the self righteous religious leaders had attempted to kill you. And now, after delaying two days after receiving word that a close friend, whom Jesus loves, is sick, Jesus decides that He wants to head back to the very place that they had just tried to kill you? You are a disciple. What would you be thinking? How would you be feeling? How would you respond?

You would respond like the disciples responded, wouldn’t you? “Jesus, I don’t think that this is a good idea. You didn’t seem to be in a rush to leave two days earlier. I mean you already said that Lazarus wasn’t going to die; and remember the last time that we were there they tried to kill you.” We see Jesus response in verse 9:

 Jesus answered, "Are there not twelve hours in the day? If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world. "But if anyone walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him."

The disciples were probably looking at each other and saying “why does He always have to talk like that? John, what is He talking about?” By asking “are there not twelve hours in the day”, Jesus is revealing that there was still time for Him to intervene in Lazarus life prior to His arrest and crucifixion. Jesus then uses the imagery of walking in the day to explain that He was still acting according to His Father’s desire for His life.

And because there was still time; because Jesus was acting according to His Father’s desire for His life, they should still make the most of His presence on earth, while He was still on earth as the Light of the world that reveals and explains God. By contrast, those who walk at night, which is a word picture of those who live their lives according to their selfishness and rebellion instead of according to God’s desires for their lives, are going to stumble and fall short when it comes to living according to God’s desires for their lives. Now if that is not confusing enough, look at what Jesus says next in verse 11:

This He said, and after that He said to them, "Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep; but I go, so that I may awaken him out of sleep." The disciples then said to Him, "Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will recover." Now Jesus had spoken of his death, but they thought that He was speaking of literal sleep.

Now, imagine yourself as a disciple. Can you see how confusing this conversation would be? First, people who you claim to love come and tell you that their brother, who you say you love is sick and ask you to come heal him. Then you delay for two days, and then suddenly want to go back to a place where they had just tried to kill you. And then you say that Lazarus is only taking a nap.

Well if Lazarus is asleep, let him sleep, I mean it’s not worth losing our lives over, is it? He doesn’t need us to be his alarm clock. Can you imagine how confused you would be at this point?

Having missed the point, we see Jesus speak with unmistakable clarity in verse 14. We will look at what Jesus had to say there tomorrow…